Always For Him
by Angeltree16
Summary: "Sasuke-kun! If you leave now I-I'll-I'll date Naruto!" Sasuke froze.


"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was getting desperate. Since she'd met him on the road out of town, he hadn't looked at her once. He'd barely even acknowledged her. If she didn't do something drastic, and soon, he would continue on this path and she would lose him forever.

"If you leave now I—I'll—" Her mind went blank. She didn't know what she'd do. If she tried to scream, he'd do what any sensible shinobi would and knock her out. She'd lose her only chance of stopping him.

"I'll date Naruto!"

Sasuke froze.

Sakura had no idea where that had come from, much less why it was working, but it was better than anything else she'd tried. She pressed her advantage.

"I will. I won't wait for you, Sasuke-kun. I know he likes me, and for an idiot, he really is a sweet guy."

He still hadn't turned to face her, but she could see the muscles in his back tense. She'd never pegged Sasuke as the jealous type, but if the bluff could get him to return to the village, it was worth it.

"After your fight earlier today, I went to go see him to see if I could help smooth things over between you guys. He was very attentive and tried to sooth my worries. He even treated me to ramen and offered to walk me home. It was all very nice."

She trailed off. She felt a bit guilty saying all this, as almost every word was true. Naruto had always been nothing but kind to her, but her feelings for him weren't anything like what she was implying. He was her teammate and her friend, but nothing more. Looking at Sasuke now though, if she had to use Naruto's feelings, and lie about her own, to convince him to stay, then so be it.

"Naruto really wouldn't be the worst person to date…but I won't if you come back. I've always loved you more than anyone. If you come back home, even if you don't want to date me now, I won't be with anybody else. I promise!"

Sasuke turned his head slightly, to glare at her.

"I don't care who you date," he bit out.

She didn't understand. Hadn't he stopped because he was jealous? Was it because it was Naruto she had threatened to replace him with? They had just had a nasty falling out…

"What I mean is that, I could never replace you with Naruto. You mean too much to me, that's all," she tried to backtrack.

"Replace me?"

Sakura took a step back. For all that Sasuke was ill-tempered and distant, she'd never known him to quite sound so wrathful.

"You'd use Naruto as a rebound?" he said with a humorless laugh.

"I-I…" It didn't sound right when he put it that way. Her strategy had completely backfired. Where did she go wrong? He was listening up until she'd said that she would push Naruto's feelings aside for him. As his rival, shouldn't that be what Sasuke wanted? Especially after that 'test of strength' blowout earlier, she thought he would've liked to one-up Naruto somehow. Honestly, some days she really didn't understand those two.

"It's not like that Sasuke-kun," she tried. "It's just that if you leave, our team will fall apart. I can't lose everyone at once, and I'm sure Naruto feels the same way. If you abandon us, we'll only have each other for support, but we'll never be the same."

Some of the anger had faded from Sasuke's frame. He was still guarded, but at least he was listening again.

Sakura smiled softly, not really looking at the boy in front of her, but remembering campfires and soft bickering into the early hours of the morning, each word sounding more fond than the last. She remembered the instinctual moves to protect and avenge the worst of the wounds. She remembered long looks, playful insults, sharp corners softening at the edges in little grins. They were starting to remind her more of her grandparents arguing over breakfast than real rivals.

"He won't let you go this easily either you know."

If Sasuke stood any more rigidly, Sakura was afraid he'd break.

"Even if Hokage-sama doesn't send anyone after you, even if Kakashi-sensei forbids us from taking a step outside the village in your direction, we'll still come. Even if it means we get labeled and hunted as rouge ninja, we won't leave you behind."

She could tell she almost had him. One last push and she'd reach him.

"Even if it means that Naruto will never get to be Hokage, there isn't a doubt in my mind that he would put it aside for you. Even if it kills him."

As it turned out, she was right. Going that rigid really did break him. He'd finally turned to face her, his face contorted for a moment in undisguised horror.

"He wouldn't…" Sasuke's voice was small and broken, like Sakura had just pointed at his murdered family and said 'look.'

"You know he would. Naruto's just like that," she said gently. "Being stuck on the sidelines gives me a unique perspective on these things. Naruto has a habit of completely disregarding his own safety for you; and you can't honestly say you aren't the same way. All the things you're willing to do for him, he'd do for you in a heartbeat. It's just a race to see which one of you gets to be the human shield this time."

She shook her head fondly. "You guys are really bad at hating each other, you know."

Sasuke made a choked sound while he stared at the ground. He'd unconsciously activated his Sharingan, as if the dirt at his feet had all the answers.

Sakura approached him slowly, careful to keep any pity off her face. She supposed it was harder to see when you were too close up. As an observer, once she'd really thought about it, it was plain as day. Sure, as a team they all cared about each other, but those two were different. She pitied the poor soul who drew one's blood in front of the other. In her experience, it had never ended well for the enemy. They quickly learned their lesson before they met a swift end.

The funny thing was, even those enemies had seen what kind of bond those two had. So why had it taken her so long to put it together? All those little moments that fit together into something more. Maybe her own feelings had blinded her, but it seemed she wasn't the only one.

Sasuke seemed to be reeling with the knowledge of how much the blond idiot cared about him. Sakura knew what he'd do on instinct alone for Naruto, and the realization of having that feeling returned full-force had to be intense.

"No," Sasuke's voice was still quiet. "No. You can stop him. Don't come after me, either of you. This isn't your path. My revenge has nothing to do with you."

"You're wrong," Sakura returned. "We love you, Sasuke-kun. Both of us. Anything that hurts you will always be our business."

"No, you're the only ones who will get hurt! Orochimaru wants me. He can teach me, but he has no use for you guys. He'll _kill_ you both."

For the first time, Sasuke looked right at her. For a moment, she thought she'd drown in the desperation swimming in his blood red eyes.

"_Don't_ let him come, Sakura. Promise me."

She shook her head.

Sasuke snarled and adjusted his stance like he would in a spar. As if defeating her would change her mind. Armed with the right tools, hers was the stronger will now.

"I can't Sasuke-kun. Even if I wanted to, there's no way I could keep him from chasing after you."

"He'll listen to you! He—he likes you!"

"Not like he loves you." There was a hollow ache in her chest as she voiced what they all knew, but had left unspoken. Naruto loved Sasuke. He loved him more than anyone. And if Sasuke's expression was anything to go by…

"And you love him too."

Sasuke's face simultaneously went very pale and very flushed.

Sakura's mom used to collect porcelain dolls. One of her favorites was of a girl blushing and smiling down at her shoes. She always liked that one, because the girl looked afraid and happy and hopeful and horrified all at once. The little plaque that came with the doll said the scene was called "Schoolgirl Crush."

Sasuke looked just like that doll now. Pale and scared, but with an underlying giddiness that comes with being love-drunk. Sakura knew that feeling well. She felt it whenever she saw Sasuke, or heard about Sasuke, or thought about Sasuke.

She'd always hoped to see that look reflected back in his face, but she'd thought it would be for her. It occurred to her then that Sasuke's face was almost always blank of any emotion. The only times she'd ever seen him display emotions were when he was near Naruto, or when they heard anything about Naruto, and probably when he was thinking about Naruto.

As for Naruto, he always acted happy around her, but he only lit up around Sasuke. Before then, she'd thought it was anger, or even hatred, but it never was. Until their fight today, they'd never really fought before. It was competition, and name-calling, and the moments when the masks slipped. It was warmth.

Sakura sighed. What a mess. They all had it bad, but even in this, she'd been left behind. She wasn't as angry as she thought she'd be. If Sasuke was safe and happy, that was all that mattered to her. Maybe that's what love was.

But those were things to be sorted out once Sasuke was back home and kept well away from Orochimaru.

"C'mon, Sasuke-kun." She stepped closer to him. "We can sort everything out. You don't need to face all of this alone. You don't need to be strong by yourself. I never have been. If revenge really is the only way you can find peace, we'll find your brother together. Orochimaru won't help you, he'll just use you. Let us help. We're a family too, right?"

While she had spoken, Sasuke had finally recovered his air of indifference. If she hadn't seen him just a few moments before, she never would have guessed that he was at all affected by her words; but knowing what she did, she could see the cracks in the mask. He was still badly shaken. She stretched a hand out to him.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment before he jerked his head away.

"Tch." He stalked past her with his hands in his pockets, headed back in the direction of the village. He knew she was right, but his pride would only go so far. As he was sulking, he lagged behind, and she meaningfully stepped behind him.

_"__I'm not letting you out of my sight, Sasuke-kun."_

He scoffed at her again, but he didn't argue with her.

As they made their way home, Sakura smiled sadly at Sasuke's back. Always from the back, never at his side, only this time it was by choice. By now she knew that his heart would never be hers, but for these last few minutes, she could pretend. Later she could be angry with Naruto for stealing her man. Later she'd cry and yell and rethink what she'd done tonight, only to realize that this was all that could have ever been. Later she'd do her best to make it up to Ino-pig for letting their mutual crush come between them.

Later she would move on.

But for now, she was content.

As they reached the center of town, Sakura recognized the path as the way to her own home. Any other time, she would have been thrilled to be walked home by him, but now she frowned thoughtfully.

"My parents might be a bit awkward about you showing up so late, but we have a spare cot you're welcome to."

Sasuke gave her a blank look.

"What are you talking about? I'm going home."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not leaving you alone right now. I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, but I'm worried about you going back to that place, and getting angry enough to leave again. I really think you should stay somewhere else at least for right now."

He gave her a full eye roll for that one.

"Look—"

"I'm serious Sasuke-kun. I'm not leaving you without some kind of supervision, even if that means standing out here all night."

He huffed, evidently weighing the pros and cons of complying with her.

"What would you suggest?"

—Meanwhile—

Naruto tossed in his bed, his face twisted like he was in pain. If there had been anyone else in the apartment, they would have heard the choked off word that sounded like a half-formed name, and seen the hot tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. They would have woken the boy from his nightmare to soothe him and tell him it wasn't real, like any friend or parent would.

But no one was there.

And he was afraid because it was real.

He was running in the darkness, chasing the blue light retreating into the fog. If he didn't hurry, it would leave him behind in the dark again. It would leave him alone with the monster. The monster only came when he thought the blue light was gone. Without it, he would drown in the red again and no one would come to save him. It would consume him and he'd lose control of his own body. The red monster would destroy the world, and blue light would go out.

He couldn't let that happen. He had to get to the light before the shadows stretched too far.

The light stopped moving, but its deep blue glow was fading. It was turning a sickly purple and red. And then he felt the hatred radiating off of it. Hatred for him. Why? Why did it hate him now? Did it know about the monster? Had the red infected it too? No, he was sure he'd been careful to keep it all in. He'd built up walls to make sure it couldn't hurt anyone else. Something else was hurting his light. Poisoning it.

If he could just catch up to the light, he could fix it. He could take its pain and make it okay. Even if it still hated him, it wouldn't be hurting anymore. It could go back to the other lights, the green and the grey and the pink. His brightest light could be happy again if he could just reach it—

He tripped and was swallowed by the shadow below. The darkness was hot and thick. He clawed at his throat as he fought to breathe. A deep rumble shook the blackness around him. He let go of his neck to clamp his hands over his ears. Fire burned behind his eyes as a low growl reverberated in his own mind. He could feel the Kyuubi's hot breath at the nape of his neck as it snapped and hissed at him. It wasn't speaking to him now. All it wanted was to devour him. The shadows were closing in. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't fight back. The fox encircled his neck in its jaws. It was going to take over. It was going to kill him. It was going to kill them all!

The monster recoiled with a sharp cry. Naruto blinked as light bloomed in front of him. His blue light had come back, no longer diseased, but bright with warmth. The shadows were retreating and he gasped in lungfuls of air. The blue light expanded and filled the emptiness, and for the first time that night, he felt safe. A soft pink light shone at the corner of his vision, not intruding in the scene, but making its presence known. He silently thanked it for bringing the blue light back. Even though it was smaller, the pink light was important to him too.

As the last of the darkness faded away, Naruto lay back in the snug closeness of the light. He wondered vaguely if this was what his happy place was. If so, he was glad he finally found it. It was nice here. He should come more often.

With those last thoughts, Naruto drifted into a peaceful sleep. Even if he had no one to dry his tears, there were still his lights to shine in the dark.

And he felt loved.

What couldn't have been more than a few minutes later, a loud knock jolted him from the most restful sleep he'd had in ages. He groaned and turned over, hoping that whoever it was would go away. It was still pitch black out, so it couldn't be anyone coming to yell at him for oversleeping. It was probably one of his neighbors coming home after too much to drink.

He'd almost drifted off again, when the knocking came again, sharper this time.

"Naruto!"

He sat up on his elbows. He knew that annoying voice.

He slipped out of bed and shuffled over to the door, rubbing at his eyes blearily. The tail of his sleeping cap fell into his face and he brushed it aside, irritably.

Pulling on the latch, he opened the door to reveal Uchiha Sasuke standing in the dim light, a packed bag over his shoulder.

"Yo."

"Hm?" There were many things to unpack about his rival standing at his door with an overnight bag in the dead of night that Naruto's tired brain didn't have the energy for.

Sasuke smirked.

"Nice hat, Dobe. You got a spare cot or something? I'm staying here."

.

.

.

"EH?!"


End file.
